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Japan’s Tourism Boom Persists Despite Diplomatic Rift with China
Japan’s tourism sector continued its strong recovery in November despite a diplomatic spat with China that briefly dampened travel sentiment. According to the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO), visitor arrivals rose 10.4% year-on-year in November to 3.52 million, bringing the total for 2025 to over 39 million already surpassing the record 36.87 million visitors in 2024.
Chinese Visitor Growth Slows Amid Travel Warning
While overall numbers remain robust, growth in arrivals from mainland China has slowed sharply. The JNTO reported a modest 3% rise in Chinese visitors in November, a steep decline compared with the 37.5% growth recorded across the year up to that point.
The slowdown follows a diplomatic dispute sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments on Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province. In response, China’s government urged citizens in mid-November to avoid travel to Japan. Several Chinese airlines soon offered free flight cancellations and refunds through the end of the year.
Tourism Stocks Hit but Travel Momentum Holds
The travel advisory sent shockwaves through Japan’s tourism-related equities. Shares of department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi (3099.T) and Tokyo Disneyland owner Oriental Land (4661.T) fell sharply after the warning and have yet to fully recover.
Despite the market turbulence, mainland Chinese tourists continue to make up the largest share of Japan’s international visitors, accounting for nearly a quarter of total arrivals so far in 2025. Industry analysts say Japan’s appeal boosted by a weak yen, relaxed visa procedures, and a broad rebound in global tourism has kept demand resilient.
Record-Breaking Year for Japanese Tourism
With one month remaining, Japan is on track for a record-breaking tourism year. Strong inflows from South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, and Southeast Asia have helped offset the slowdown from China.
Travel analysts suggest that while geopolitical tensions may create temporary dips, Japan’s tourism ecosystem has diversified enough to maintain momentum. “The numbers show Japan’s visitor base is expanding beyond reliance on any single country,” said a Tokyo-based tourism economist.
Even amid strained China-Japan ties, the steady inflow of travellers underscores Japan’s growing status as one of Asia’s premier post-pandemic travel destinations.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Elon Musk’s X Corp Sues Startup Seeking to “Bring Twitter Back”
Elon Musk’s X Corp filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against a Virginia-based startup that has sought to cancel its Twitter trademarks in order to launch a rival platform called “twitter.new.” The case, brought in a Delaware federal court, accuses Operation Bluebird of trademark infringement and attempting to unlawfully claim rights to one of the world’s most recognisable brands.
X Defends Ownership of Twitter Brand
In its complaint, X said that its Twitter brand remains “alive and well” and that Bluebird’s effort to cancel the trademarks was an attempt to “steal” the name. “Twitter is one of the world’s most recognised brands, and it belongs to X Corp,” the filing stated. “Simply put, a rebrand is not an abandonment of trademark rights.”
The company argued that millions of users still access its platform through twitter.com, that both individuals and businesses continue to refer to it as Twitter, and that X actively maintains and enforces its existing trademarks.
Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion before rebranding it to X, had said in 2023 that the platform would “bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”
Bluebird Seeks to Reclaim the “Twitter” Name
Operation Bluebird filed a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 2 December, claiming X had abandoned the Twitter name and asking regulators to cancel its trademarks. The startup said it intends to use the brand to “bring Twitter back” via a new social media network.
The petition was filed by Stephen Coates, a former Twitter trademark attorney who now serves as Bluebird’s general counsel. Bluebird also applied separately to register its own “Twitter” trademark.
“Our cancellation petition is based on well-established trademark law and we believe we will be successful,” Bluebird founder Michael Peroff said in a statement. “We are prepared to take this as far as we need to in order to achieve our goal.”
X Accuses Bluebird of Creating Confusion
X Corp said Bluebird’s attempt to resurrect Twitter would cause consumer confusion and infringe on its intellectual property rights. The company is seeking unspecified monetary damages and an injunction preventing Bluebird from using the Twitter name.
Spokespeople for X have not commented publicly on the lawsuit, while Bluebird maintains that Musk’s 2023 rebranding demonstrates abandonment under U.S. trademark law. The case is expected to test how far a company can go in rebranding a globally recognised mark without forfeiting its legal protection.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Trump Blocks All Sanctioned Oil Tankers Entering, Leaving Venezuela
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered on Tuesday a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington’s latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income.
It is unclear how Trump will impose the move against the sanctioned oil vessels, and whether he will turn to the Coast Guard to interdict vessels from Venezuela like he did last week. The administration has moved thousands of troops and nearly a dozen warships – including an aircraft carrier – to the region.
“For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela.”
Venezuela Rejects Threats
In a statement, Venezuela’s government said it rejected Trump’s “grotesque threat.”
Oil prices rose more than 1% in Asian trade on Wednesday. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 70 cents, or 1.2%, at $59.62 a barrel at 0245 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose 73 cents, or 1.3%, to $56.00 a barrel.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 climbed over 1% to $55.96 a barrel in Asian trading after Trump’s announcement. Oil prices settled at $55.27 a barrel on Tuesday, the lowest close since February 2021.
Oil market participants said prices were rising in anticipation of a potential reduction in Venezuelan exports, although they were still waiting to see how Trump’s blockade would be enforced and whether it would extend to include non-sanctioned vessels.
Legal Questions
American presidents have broad discretion to deploy U.S. forces abroad, but Trump’s asserted blockade marks a new test of presidential authority, said international law scholar Elena Chachko of UC Berkeley Law School.
Blockades have traditionally been treated as permissible “instruments of war,” but only under strict conditions, Chachko said. “There are serious questions on both the domestic law front and international law front,” she added.
U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, called the blockade “unquestionably an act of war.”
“A war that the Congress never authorised and the American people do not want,” Castro added on X.
There has been an effective embargo in place after the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week, with loaded vessels carrying millions of barrels of oil staying in Venezuelan waters rather than risk seizure.
Since the seizure, Venezuelan crude exports have fallen sharply, a situation worsened by a cyberattack that knocked down state-run PDVSA’s administrative systems this week.
While many vessels picking up oil in Venezuela are under sanctions, others transporting the country’s oil and crude from Iran and Russia have not been sanctioned, and some companies, particularly the U.S.’ Chevron, transport Venezuelan oil in their own authorised ships.
Impact On Venezuela
For now, the oil market is well supplied, and there are millions of barrels of oil on tankers off the coast of China waiting to offload. If the embargo stays in place for some time, then the loss of nearly a million barrels a day of crude supply is likely to push oil prices higher.
Two U.S. officials said the new policy, if implemented fully, could have a major impact on Maduro.
David Goldwyn, a former State Department energy diplomat, said if Venezuela’s affected exports are not replaced by increased OPEC spare capacity, the impact on oil prices could be in the range of five to eight dollars a barrel.
“I would expect inflation to skyrocket, and massive and immediate migration from Venezuela to neighbouring countries,” Goldwyn said.
Since the U.S. imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, traders and refiners buying Venezuelan oil have resorted to a “shadow fleet” of tankers that disguise their location and to vessels sanctioned for transporting Iranian or Russian oil.
As of last week, more than 30 of the 80 ships in Venezuelan waters or approaching the country were under U.S. sanctions, according to data compiled by TankerTrackers.com.
Increased Tensions
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 90 people.
Trump has also said that U.S. land strikes on the South American country will soon start.
Maduro has alleged that the U.S. military build-up and Trump’s moves are aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s oil resources in Venezuela, which are the world’s largest crude reserves.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Taipei Says China’s Aircraft Carrier Fujian Sails Through Taiwan Strait
China’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said, its first transit of the sensitive waterway since formally entering service last month.
Taiwan, which Beijing views as its territory, reports almost daily Chinese military activity around the island in what Taipei views as an ongoing pressure campaign against the democratically elected government.
In a statement on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said the Fujian had transited the strait the previous day and that Taiwan’s forces had monitored it.
The ministry showed a grainy, black-and-white picture of the carrier with no aircraft on its deck. It did not say where the picture was taken and offered no other details.
No Response From China
China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking to lawmakers, Taiwan Defence Minister Wellington Koo said the ship was probably on its way to Shanghai’s Changxing island, which is home to China’s main naval shipbuilding yard, and that the ministry had not noticed it carrying out any military activities.
China says it alone has sovereignty over the strait, a major maritime artery for cargo traffic. Taiwan and the United States say it is an international waterway.
In a separate statement later on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence ministry said China had been carrying out a “joint combat readiness patrol” near the island, involving 23 warplanes as well as warships, since the morning.
The aircraft included J-10 fighters and nuclear weapon-capable H-6K bombers, it added.
Previous Entry
In September, the same carrier, Fujian, sailed through the Taiwan Strait and into the disputed South China Sea during trials.
The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier, with a flat flight deck and electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft that make it a potentially far more powerful naval weapon than China’s first two Russian-designed carriers.
The Fujian will be able to carry significantly more, and heavier-armed, jet fighters than the Liaoning and Shandong carriers, which are smaller and rely on ramps to launch aircraft.
The Fujian is also expected to host a larger and wider range of planes than the other two carriers, including early-warning aircraft and, eventually, China’s first carrier-capable stealth jet fighters.
China’s President Xi Jinping attended its commissioning and flag-presentation ceremony in the southern island province of Hainan last month and boarded the vessel for an inspection tour.
Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi’s Son Raises Health Alarm, Junta Says ‘Good Health’
Myanmar’s junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son told Reuters he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing.
In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw.
No Proof Of Health
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup in Myanmar that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a 27-year sentence on charges including incitement, corruption and election fraud — all of which she denies.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health,” a statement posted on junta-run Myanmar Digital News said on Tuesday, using an honorific for the former leader. The statement offered no evidence or details about her condition.
“The military claims she is in good health, yet they refuse to provide any independent proof, no recent photograph, no medical verification, and no access by family, doctors, or international observers. If she is truly well, they can prove it,” Aris told Reuters on Wednesday in response to the statement.
A Myanmar junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Fearing The Worst
In the interview earlier this week, Aris had said he hopes an upcoming multi-phase election in Myanmar, starting December 28, might offer an opportunity for the military to release Suu Kyi or move her to house arrest.
Myanmar’s military has a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events. Aung San Suu Kyi was freed in 2010, days after an election in Myanmar, ending a previous long period of detention.
Aris has joined a chorus of critics, including several foreign governments, dismissing the polls as a sham aimed at legitimising military rule.
The junta accused Aris of trying to disrupt the election — the first general poll since 2020, when the military accused Suu Kyi of committing fraud.
“This is merely a fabrication, timed and distributed to disrupt the free and fair multi-party democratic general election that will be held in Myanmar in the near future,” the junta statement said.
Dissolved Party
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s largest political party, remains dissolved, and several other anti-junta political groups are boycotting the polls.
“I have no intention of interfering in Burma’s politics. But after years of total isolation, secrecy, and silence, any son would begin to fear the worst,” Aris added in response to the junta’s statement.
“My concern is growing because my mother has been hidden for so long that I now have to ask the most painful question: is she still alive?”
(with inputs from Reuters)
Bondi Beach Attack: Australia To Pass Emergency Gun Laws
The leader of the state of New South Wales in Australia said on Wednesday he will recall parliament next week to pass wide-ranging reforms of gun and protest laws, days after the country’s deadliest mass shooting in three decades.
The alleged father-and-son perpetrators opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s famed Bondi Beach on Sunday, in an attack that shook the nation and intensified fears of rising antisemitism and violent extremism.
Chris Minns, the Premier of the state, where the attack took place, told a news conference that the parliament of Australia would return on December 22 to hear “urgent” reforms to the laws, including capping the number of firearms allowed by a single person and making certain types of shot gun harder to access.
The state government will also look at reforms, making it harder to hold large street protests after terror events, in order to prevent further tensions.
“We’ve got a monumental task in front of us. It’s huge,” he said.
“It’s a huge responsibility to pull the community together. I think we need a summer of calm and togetherness, not division.”
To Be Charged Soon
Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene, while his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, emerged from a coma on Tuesday afternoon after also being shot by police.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said earlier on Wednesday the surviving gunman would be charged within hours, but New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told a news conference the force was still waiting for the medication to wear off before formally questioning him.
Akram remains in a Sydney hospital under heavy police guard.
The men accused of carrying out Sunday’s attack had travelled to the southern Philippines, a region long plagued by Islamist militancy, weeks before the shooting that Australian police said appeared to be inspired by Islamic State.
U.S. President Donald Trump told a Hanukkah event at the White House late on Tuesday that he was thinking of the victims of the “horrific and antisemitic terrorist attack”.
“We join in mourning all of those who were killed, and we’re praying for the swift recovery of the wounded,” he said.
Funerals Begin
Funerals of the Jewish victims of Sunday’s attack began on Wednesday, amid anger over how the gunmen – one of whom was briefly investigated for links to extremists – were allowed access to powerful firearms.
A funeral for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, an assistant rabbi at Chabad Bondi Synagogue and a father of five, was held on Wednesday.
He was known for his work for Sydney’s Jewish community through Chabad, a global organisation fostering Jewish identity and connection. Schlanger would travel to prisons and meet with Jewish people living in Sydney’s public housing communities, Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin said on Monday.
Albanese is facing criticism that his centre-left government did not do enough to prevent the spread of antisemitism in Australia during the two-year Israel-Gaza war.
“We will work with the Jewish community, we want to stamp out and eradicate antisemitism from our society,” Albanese told reporters.
The government and intelligence services are also under pressure to explain why Sajid Akram was allowed to legally acquire the high-powered rifles and shotguns used in the attack. The government of Australia has already promised sweeping reforms to gun laws.
Akram’s son, meanwhile, was briefly investigated by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency in 2019 over alleged links to Islamic State, but there was no evidence at the time he posed a threat, Albanese said.
Hero To Undergo Surgery
Albanese said Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, the man who tackled one of the shooters to disarm his rifle and suffered gunshot wounds, was due to undergo surgery on Wednesday.
Al-Ahmed’s uncle, Mohammed al-Ahmed, in Syria, said his nephew left his hometown in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib nearly 20 years ago to seek work in Australia.
“We learned through social media. I called his father, and he told me that it was Ahmed. Ahmed is a hero; we’re proud of him. Syria, in general, is proud of him,” the uncle told Reuters.
The family of 22-year-old police officer Jack Hibbert, who was shot twice on Sunday and had been on the force for just four months, said in a statement on Wednesday that he had lost vision in one eye and faced a “long and challenging recovery” ahead.
“In the face of a violent and tragic incident, he responded with courage, instinct, and selflessness, continuing to protect and help others whilst injured, until he was physically no longer able to,” the family said.
Health authorities said 22 people were still in several Sydney hospitals.
Victims
Other shooting victims included a Holocaust survivor, a husband and wife who first approached the gunmen before they started firing, and a 10-year-old girl named Matilda, according to interviews, officials and media reports.
Matilda’s father told a Bondi vigil on Tuesday night he did not want his daughter’s legacy to be forgotten.
“We came here from Ukraine … and I thought that Matilda is the most Australian name that can ever exist. So just remember the name, remember her,” local media reported him as saying.
In Bondi on Wednesday, swimmers gathered on Sydney’s most popular beach and held a minute’s silence.
“This week has obviously been very profound, and this morning, I definitely feel a sense of the community getting together, and a sense of everyone sitting together,” Archie Kalaf, a 24-year-old Bondi man, told Reuters. “Everyone’s grieving, everyone’s understanding and processing it in their own way.”
(with inputs from Reuters)
Expert Explains How Fujian Shapes China’s Taiwan Strategy
It may not be well known that China’s provinces bordering other countries have a role to play in proposing ideas that strengthen bilateral economic cooperation and people-to-people contact. Fujian, the province facing Taiwan across 100-km of the water, has emerged as a frontline laboratory for Beijing’s cross-strait strategy. It is in fact a testing ground for Taiwan policy.
A Provincial Role in China’s Taiwan Policy
Two years back, Beijing designated Fujian as a Cross-Strait Integration and Development Demonstration Zone and laid down 21 measures aimed at deepening economic, social and cultural ties with Taiwan. Then this year, the province established Taiwan affairs offices in every county and district.
Swayamsiddha Samal, PhD Scholar at the Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, who is researching Fujian’s role in China’s Taiwan policy, argues that the province is neither a passive executor nor an independent policy-maker. Beijing sets the strategic direction, she told StratNewsGlobal, while provinces like Fujian are expected to design locally tailored policies that operationalise these directives.
At the same time, Beijing sharply curbs Fujian’s autonomy in three key ways. No matter how innovative a local initiative may be, it cannot become policy without central approval. Provinces can propose ideas, but the centre ultimately decides which ones matter. As a result, Fujian’s role remains experimental, with its strategic boundaries firmly defined from the top.
Swayamsiddha further told StratNews Global that Xi Jinping has personally urged Fujian to explore new paths for integrated development and improve Taiwanese livelihoods through economic incentives, but only within politically defined limits. Innovation is encouraged, but deviation is not.
From Provincial Experiments to National Policy
Nevertheless, some proposals originating in Fujian have been implemented at the national level. One key example is the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone, first proposed by Fujian in 2004 and approved in 2009. Over time, it evolved into a free trade zone linking Fujian more closely with Taiwan, aimed at attracting Taiwanese businesses, professionals and young entrepreneurs.
According to a forthcoming research paper by Swayamsiddha Samal, expected to be published in the coming months, these Fujian-tested initiatives later informed broader national policies.
Samal told StratNewsGlobal that measures such as the recognition of professional qualifications for Taiwanese citizens, equal treatment for Taiwanese enterprises in financing and government procurement, expanded employment and education benefits, and start-up incentives for Taiwanese youth all originated from this provincial experimentation.
Samal observes that in 2001, during Xi Jinping’s tenure as governor of Fujian, direct postal, commercial, and transportation connections were inaugurated with Taiwan’s Kinmen and Matsu islands under what was known as the “Three Mini Links” initiative.
“Taken together, these cases show that Fujian does more than simply implement directives from Beijing,” Samal said. “The province innovates, tests feasibility and demonstrates results, which are then scaled up nationally under central supervision.”
Symbolism and Strategic Constraints
From Beijing’s point of view, it’s also important that there be progress towards “reunification”. This progress is assessed not only through economic performance and integration metrics, but also by closely watching developments in Taiwan’s domestic politics, including which political parties gain ground and what those outcomes suggest about public attitudes towards China.
But the way the Chinese system works is the focus on what Swayamsiddha Samal describes as largely process-oriented metrics. Success is measured by policies issued, events organised and funds spent, not so much by whether attitudes are really changing in Taiwan.
So we have the situation where Taiwanese identity has continued to strengthen, support for reunification has declined, and Taiwanese investment in Fujian reportedly fell by around 80 per cent year on year in 2023. At the same time, Beijing’s military buildup opposite Taiwan has undermined its stated “hearts and minds” strategy, often reinforcing scepticism rather than goodwill within Taiwanese society.
But the Chinese system continues to roll, with activity, discipline and visible effort prioritised over whether policies actually shift public opinion in Taiwan or advance reunification in any meaningful way.
As Tibetans Mark Legacy Of 6th Dalai Lama, China’s Shadow Looms
Three demands by members of the Standing Committee of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, who called on MPs attending the winter session of parliament in Delhi on Monday: Tibet should be recognised as an occupied nation with a historically sovereign past, China should open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s representatives or the democratically elected Tibetan leadership and the UN should study the impact of China’s activities on Tibet’s environment.
Nobody is under any illusion that the above could happen but it is important to ensure that the cause of Tibet remains on the public radar, more so now when China is forcefully asserting that it alone has the right to decide on the next or 15th Dalai Lama.
Gyaltsen Norbu, the Beijing-appointed Panchen Lama, at an event in Shigatse earlier this month, said that the reincarnation of “living Buddhas” must be identified within China and approved by the central government, adding that the process should take place “without any interference or control from organisations or individuals outside the country.”
Noted Journalist and Tibetologist Vijay Kranti called the claim ironic. “A Communist Party that does not believe in religion, that has worked for 70 years to destroy Tibet’s religious identity, and that has used abusive language against the current Dalai Lama, now suddenly claims the right to appoint the next one. Anyone who understands Tibet finds this absurd.”
Tibetologist Claude Arpi pointed out that the 14th or current Dalai Lama has already asserted that his office, the Gaden Phodrang Trust, will decide on the reincarnation.
He also underscored the “historically sovereign past” of Tibet. An international conference in Tawang that concluded recently, came out with papers and studies on the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso.
“It is uncontested history that the Sixth Dalai Lama was born in Mon Tawang, identified here as a reincarnation of the Fifth Dalai Lama, taken to Lhasa and enthroned,” said Moji Riba from the Center for Cultural Research and Documentation, who was one of the key organisers behind the conference.
“The conference held in Tawang shows that the Dalai Lama can be born outside Tibet, Claude Arpi said.
China responded quickly. A Chinese state-linked media called it a “farce” and accused India of using religion for political ends. “Anything in Tawang automatically triggers the question—does it belong to India or China?” said Moji Riba. “But we fly the tricolour here. Who can take that right away from us?”
In fact the conference was intended to reclaim Tsangyang Gyatso’s legacy before China appropriated it. He rejected strict monastic rules, gave up novice vows and chose poetry over ritual. His verses spoke of love, freedom and longing, making him unusually close to ordinary people.
“He was anti-dogma and open to the public,” said International Buddhist Confederation (IBC) spokesperson, comparing his approach to India’s Bhakti saints such as Kabir and Nanak.
The China angle to Gyatso only comes with a sinister edge to it. Official history records his death in 1706 while being taken to China. But another version suggests he escaped and travelled to Mongolia. There are monasteries and strong oral traditions in Mongolia that attribute teachings and poetry to him. He is described as a mystic figure.
The pity is China is playing politics with some of the most revered figures of Tibetan Buddhism.
Australia: Dead Bondi Beach Shooter Originally From Hyderabad
Australia’s Bondi Beach shooter has an Indian connection: the elder of the two shooters Sajid Akram was originally from Hyderabad and left to study in Australia in 1998. That’s according to media reports quoting his relatives in the city.
Sajid apparently was not in close touch with his family and had cut off relations over a family dispute. He was in Hyderabad in 2022 and still held an Indian passport although his son Naveed, the other shooter who is undergoing treatment in a Sydney hospital, and a daughter are Australian citizens.
Police said there was nothing to indicate any ideological connection between Sajid’s alleged radicalisation and India.
But the Philippine immigration authorities have confirmed that Sajid and Navid entered the country on Nov 1 this year, leaving on Nov 28. They reportedly declared Davao in the southern Philippines as their final destination.
Davao on the island of Mindanao is an impoverished region where Islamic groups have historically operated. The Abu Sayyaf group, for example, had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State and currently fields around 100 armed fighters. It wants to establish an Islamic state and impose sharia law.
The Philippine authorities were unable to confirm if Sajid and Navid had any military training during their Davao visit. So the purpose of their visit to the Philippines continues to be a subject of investigation.
Manila to Protest China’s “Aggressive Acts” After South China Sea Clash
The Philippines said on Monday it will formally protest what it described as the Chinese coast guard’s “harassment and endangerment” of Filipino fishermen near Sabina Shoal, following a violent encounter that left three injured and damaged two fishing boats.
Fishermen Injured in Water Cannon Attack
According to the Philippine coast guard, Chinese vessels fired water cannons and cut the anchor lines of Filipino fishing boats operating within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Friday. The incident occurred near Sabina Shoal also known as Escoda Shoal to Manila and Xianbin Reef to Beijing about 150 kilometres west of Palawan province.
Manila expressed alarm over the use of force, calling the Chinese coast guard’s actions unjustifiable. “The use of water cannons and dangerous manoeuvres that cause injury and damage cannot be justified,” the Philippines’ maritime council said in a statement.
The council confirmed that the government would file a formal diplomatic protest, or demarche, to the Chinese embassy in Manila on Monday. “The Philippines will undertake the appropriate diplomatic response and register its strong objection to these actions,” it said, urging China to immediately halt such “aggressive acts.”
Beijing Blames Manila for “Provocation”
China’s foreign ministry disputed Manila’s account, accusing the Philippines of sending a “large number of ships” to Sabina Shoal to “create trouble.” Spokesperson Guo Jiakun claimed Filipino vessels ignored repeated warnings and “took dangerous actions,” even “brandishing knives to threaten Chinese coast guard officers.”
On Friday, China’s coast guard said it had “driven away multiple Philippine vessels and taken control measures.” Manila dismissed that statement as “deeply troubling,” accusing Beijing of escalating tensions in the South China Sea.
“We call on the CCG to act responsibly, adhere to international maritime conduct, and prioritise the preservation of life at sea over actions that sow fear and endanger civilians,” the Philippine maritime council said.
U.S. Backs Manila, China Warns Washington
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, condemned China’s actions. “We stand with our Philippine allies as they confront China’s provocative actions and increasingly dangerous tactics against its neighbours,” said U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott, adding that such behaviour undermines regional stability.
China responded by warning Washington not to “interfere in maritime matters” or “incite confrontation,” reiterating its claim to sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea—a waterway that handles more than $3 trillion in annual trade.
Long-Standing Dispute
Sabina Shoal lies within the Philippines’ EEZ, an area validated by a 2016 international arbitral tribunal ruling that rejected Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims as having no basis under international law. China, however, continues to disregard the verdict.
The latest confrontation adds to a series of escalating maritime incidents between the two countries and underscores growing tensions in one of the world’s most contested waters.
(with inputs from Reuters)